For Queen of Hearts winner Sam Houston, the lucky card number he chose last Tuesday was a foregone conclusion. 

Houston chose card 28, revealing the Queen and winning a final jackpot total of $1,886,536 at Outsider in downtown Waterloo.

Card 28 has several personal connections for Houston. In addition to being his mother’s birthday – Feb. 28, 1928 (2/8/28) – the card also carries a special significance for his sister, Shelley Goodman.

Goodman’s husband died in a tragic accident on April 28, 2012, when a tent at a concert near Busch Stadium collapsed, killing Alfred Goodman and hospitalizing 16 others.

Houston’s first pick was already off the board. He planned on picking card 7 in honor of his favorite baseball player Mickey Mantle. 

Since card 7 had already been selected and card 28 was one of only three options still available in the final Queen of Hearts drawing, the Red Bud man said “it was a pretty easy decision.” 

Houston recalled the moments leading up to his winning pick.

“Who plans on hitting this thing?” Houston began. “I just kept saying my (registration) number to myself and I didn’t even hear it. Then Shelley told me, ‘They just said your number!’” 

As he made his way to the front of the crowd, Houston said he hoped it really was his number and he didn’t “early bingo,” but was relieved he heard his name over the speaker system.

When the time to pick a number came, Houston said he looked to his sisters for confirmation and they told him, “don’t do that to us.”

Remembering his mother, Houston said “it was obvious what number our family was choosing. I felt as if she was standing amongst us each and every drawing,” adding, “I’m just glad my dad’s number – 26 – wasn’t in there or it would have been a toss-up.”

Another number – 1,340,383.83 – will also now have a special meaning for Houston. That’s the post-tax amount he received Friday in a check presented by Ss. Peter & Paul School Principal Lori Matzenbacher. 

“I didn’t think it’d be that much,” Houston admitted. 

“You can just stick the envelope in your wife’s birthday card,” Matzenbacher joked. 

Houston, whose wife’s birthday is Feb. 4, replied, “That’s where it’s going.”

Houston said she deserves it as he and his wife Gina have eight children between them. 

“Gina spent numerous hours in the kitchen, laundry room, taking care of the kids getting them up for school and out the door and just keeping food in the house was a chore in itself. So, I’m not afraid to give credit where credit is due,” Houston said.

One of his immediate plans is to take a vacation to Las Vegas with his wife, brother, sisters and children.

Houston said he wants the trip to be “just for our family to always remember.”

He compared the Queen of Hearts drawing itself to a “family get-together,” citing the Tuesday night atmosphere in Waterloo created when the crowds and jackpot began to grow. 

Matzenbacher said the next drawing will not be until April 11, giving school  personnel and volunteers a bit of a break.

“It’s been a little bit emotional for us. We’re happy to finally be finished, but we’re also sad. Everybody’s like, ‘What are you going to do on Tuesday nights now?’” Matzenbacher said.

“What a great fundraiser,” she continued. “We appreciate everybody and all of their help – people who aren’t necessarily involved with the school but volunteered to come up and help sell tickets and tear tickets and clean up afterwards.”

While the exact total the school received is not yet known, part of the 20 percent SPPCS has already received was used in part for purchasing “minor things” such as the physical tickets  and hand warmers to keep volunteers comfortable during the colder weather.

Matzenbacher said most of the proceeds will go to “projects that we haven’t been able to get completed or to get done just because we don’t have the additional funds.”

For members of the SPPCS community, the work of keeping the school going is never truly finished. The next event on the school calendar is the annual gala and silent auction on March 11. 

As a private school, Matzenbacher said they are “used to having to fundraise. The gala has been our biggest (fundraiser), but I think it got beat to this year,” Matzenbacher said.

In another bit of coincidence, the Queen was found during Catholic Schools Week.

“It was a busy, fun, exiting time to celebrate our faith, our school and our parish. So it just added to the excitement of the week,” Matzenbacher said.

“It’s been a lot of extra work for us, but obviously it’s beneficial,” she concluded. 

Matzenbacher also thanked Outsider tavern owner Donavan Melican and his staff for continuing to allow the school to hold the drawing when it begins anew in April.

“Our goal in working with (Waterloo Mayor Tom Smith) was to keep it downtown to benefit the businesses in Waterloo,” Matzenbacher said. “Donavan was on board, so we’re going to stay with Donavan for a while. He and his staff have been wonderful through this.”

The largest jackpot in the prior four games never reached the $100,000 mark, but there’s a possibility the beginning pot might be larger when the sixth Queen of Hearts game begins.

“In the past, we’ve started the pot at $5,000,” Matzenbacher said. “We haven’t decided if we want to start it larger than that. It’s a committee decision.”

For updates on future drawings, follow Waterloo Queen of Hearts on Facebook.